Child&#39;s clothes rack



Marcia $13969 H. s. DOWNING 3, 3

CHILD S CLOTBES RACK Filed March 17, 19s? United States Patent Ofice 3,433,445 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 3,433,445 CHILDS CLOTHES RACK Hubert S. Downing, P.O. Box 627, Fayetteville,N.C. 28032 Filed Mar. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 624,075 US. Cl. 248-291 Int. Cl. A47f /00 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A childs clothes rack including a plurality of pivoted clothes-supporting bars normally supported in elevated positions by downwardly and inwardly-directed snap leaf springs of the type emitting a loud snapping sound when flexed beyond a dead-center condition, the bars causing the springs to flex to this condition in response to the weight of garments placed on the bars.

clothes thereon or removal of clothes therefrom, whereby the clothes rack is especially suitable for use in childrens closets, kindergarten classes, or similar locations where childrens clothes are to be hung.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved childrens clothes rack having sounding means associated therewith which operate in response to the placement of clothes thereon ort he removal of clothes therefrom to emit characteristic sounds resembling the sounds of animals, such as ducks, or the like, the clothes rack being attractive in appearance, being inexpensive to manufacture, and being very durable in construction.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing an improved childs clothes rack constructed in accordance with the present invention, shown mounted on a wall and illustrating the manner in which a garment is supported on one of the bar elements thereof.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, and showing the normal position of a garment-supporting bar member.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view, generally similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the position of the supporting bar member when loaded with a garment.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly broken away, of the auxiliary sounding member employed on the childs garment rack of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing, the improved clothes rack is designated generally at 11 and comprises a plate-like main supporting member 12 which is of substantial length and which may be of any suitable shape, for example, may be formed with the downwardly-convergent bottom edges 13, 13 and with the horizontal top edge 14 provided at its center with the upstanding lug portion 15. The supporting plate member 12 is provided adjacent its upper top corners with respective hanger loop members 16, 16 for fastening the clothes rack to a wall, for example, by means of attaching screws 17.

Suitably-secured to the plate-like main supporting member 12 and spaced horizontally therealong are a plurality of vertical U-shaped brackets 18, each bracket comprising a pair of outwardly-facing parallel, vertical side flanges 19, 19 and a depending tongue element 20 formed integrally with the bight portion of the bracket member 18 and being a downward extension thereof. The bracket member 18 may be secured to the plate-like main supporting member 12 by a pair of rivets 21, 21 engaged through the bight portion and extension 20- of the member 18, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

Pivotally-mounted in each bracket member 18 is an outwardly-projecting bar element 22, the upper inner corner portion of the bar element being pivotally-connected between the upper potrions of the side flanges 19, 19 of the associated bracket 18 by a transverse pivot pin 24, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 2 and 3. Rigidlysecured to each bar member 22 is a downwardly and inwardly-extending leaf spring 25 of the type formed at its intermediate portion with a warp or bulge 26 which acts to stiffen said intermediate portion of the leaf spring relative to the remainder thereof as well as creating a configuration whereby the spring will suddenly snap when it is flexed beyond a dead-center condition. In the normal position of the parts shown in FIGURE 2, the bottom edge of the downwardly and inwardly-inclined snap spring 25 bears on the head 27 of the lowermost rivet 21.

Rigidly-se-cured to the forward end portion of the top surface of each bar 22 is a spherical knob or head element 28, and secured to the downwardly-facing forward surface portion of each head member 28 is a downwardly and forwardly-directed bar element 29 having a V- notch 30 in its forward end, whereby the bar 22, head 28, and auxiliary bar element 29 provide a configuration generally resembling the head and body of a duckling or similar animal. This resemblance may be further accentuated by painting or otherwise suitably marking the spherical head element 28 with indicia 30 such as simulated eyes.

As shown in FIGURE 2, each snap spring 25 normally supports its associated bar member 22 in an upwardly and forwardly-directed position. When a garment 31 of substantial weight is placed over the bar 22 and head portion 28 thereon, as shown in dotted view in FIGURE 3, the weight of the garment may be sufiicient to swing the bar member 22 downwardly and to apply suflicient force to its associated snap spring 25 to flex same past its dead-center condition, causing the spring to emit a loud quacking sound, resembling the sound made by a duck. If the weight of the garment 31 is, in itself, insufficient to cause the spring 25 to be flexed beyond its dead center condition, a downward pull on the garment 31 will accomplish the desired and necessary downward movement of the associated bar member 22 to produce the quacking sound.

A similar effect occurs when the garment 31 is removed, since upon the removal of the weight from the associated bar member 22, the snap spring 25 is released and snaps back from the position thereof shown in FIGURE 3 to the normal position thereof shown in FIGURE 2, again emitting a loud quacking sound.

The sound effect as produced by the act of placing a garment on the clothes rack, and removing the garment therefrom makes the device of great interest to children and stimulates a childs interest in hanging his clothing on a clothes rack when he takes them off, and encourages habits of neatness in the disposition of his clothing.

An auxiliary sounding device 32 may be mounted upon the upstanding lug portion 15 of the main supporting plate 12, for example, a conventional squeeze-type sounding device comprising a flexible housing or cover 33 secured over a coiled spring 34, the housing having a rigid front wall 35 on which is mounted a conventional air-operated whistle or sounding device 36 of any suitable type, for example, of the reed type, provided with. a vibratory sounding element adapted to emit a sound resembling the sound of a quacking duck, or similar animal. The sound is produced by the passage of air through the device 36, and this occurs when the device, which resembles a push button, as shown in FIGURE 4, is pushed inwardly and released, for example, by pressing the same with a finger and then removing the finger, as indicated in dotted view in FIGURE 4. The auxiliary sounding device 32 may be used by the teacher or other person in charge of the children to provide a signal or characteristic sound which reminds the children to hang up their clothes, or to remove their clothes from the clothes rack.

It will be noted that the pivot pin 24 is located sufficiently close to the bight portion of the bracket member 18 so that the associated snap spring 25 is protected against excessive flexure by the proximity of the rear end 40 of the bar member 22 to the bight portion of the bracket member 18. Thus, in the event of an excessive load on the bar member 22, the bottom inner corner portion of the bar member rotates inwardly into abutment with the bight portion of the bracket member 18, whereby the load is transferred directly from the bar member to the support plate 12. The spring 25 is sufiiciently resilient so that it will restore itself to the normal position thereof shown in FIGURE 2 when the load is removed from the hanger bar 22.

While a specific embodiment of an improved childs clothes rack has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A childs clothes rack comprising a main plate-like support, pivot bracket means on the support, an outweirdly-extending bar element pivotally-connected to said pivot bracket means for rotation on a horizontal axis parallel to the support, and a sounding snap leaf spring mounted between the bottom of the bar element and the support and being mounted so as to support the bar element in an outwardly-projecting upwardly-inclined position and to flex responsive to the Weight of a garment placed on the free outer end portion of the bar element, wherein the snap leaf spring is secured in the bar element and extends downwardly and inwardly from the bottom surface thereof toward the support, wherein said pivot bracket means includes a pair of parallel flanges, the bar element being received between said flanges and being pivotally-connected thereto by a horizontal pivot pin, and wherein said pivot bracket means is substantially U-shaped and includes a tongue element depending from the bight portion thereof, the tongue element being provided with a fastening element connecting same to the support, said fastening element having an exposed head, the bottom edge of the snap spring normally hearing on said exposed head.

2. The childs clothes rack of claim 1, and an upstanding knob-like head element secured on the forward end portion of the bar element.

3. The childs clothes rack of claim 1, and wherein the pivot pin extends through the upper inner corner portion of the bar element and wherein the lower inner corner portion of said bar element is rotatable into abutment with the bight portion of the pivot bracket means.

4. The childs clothes rack of claim 3, and an upstanding substantially spherical head element secured on the upper forward corner portion of the bar element.

5. The childs clothes rack of claim 4, and a manually-operated auxiliary sounding device mounted on the main support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 749,482 1/1904 Geistert 46189 1,198,008 9/1916 Clive 248294 1,891,219 12/1932 Baker 46l89 2,518,390 8/ 1950 Slauson 46-189 2,602,622 7/1952 Smith 248293 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

J. FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

